Alex's adventures in middle earth part I out of III
by Alex the sorceress 43
Summary: Alex is in Middle earth, the setting of Lord of the Rings.
1. No memory

I woke up with no memory, and three men, two tall, one short, pointing weapons at me. As I tried to sit up, the short one jabbed an axe in my face.

"One wrong move, and I'll-"

"Not do anything!" That was one of the taller men. He had copper colored hair. "We have no proof that she is a threat."

After helping me up, the copper haired man introduced himself as Boromir.

"Gimli," the short man stated. He was actually a dwarf.

"Strider," the third man said. He had dark hair. "What is your name?"

"I don't know. I must have hit my head. I don't remember anything."

"You could have. The area around here is steep and rocky. You could have easily fallen."

"Strider," Boromir cut in,"We should take her to camp. See what Gandalf thinks."

"Of course. This way," Strider pointed. As he had said, the way was steep and hard to walk on, but I managed to keep up.


	2. Edge of Night

I could tell that we were near the camp before I saw it. I could smell the smoke. As we turned the corner, I could see the faint glow of firelight. As Strider caught up, he introduced me to everyone I hadn't met yet.

Legolas was an elf, with blond hair that had a braid down the back. Gandalf was a wizard that wore grey robes and a grey hat that had a wide brim and a pointed top. Frodo was a hobbit with dark curly hair, while the others, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, had blond curls.

They all seemed nice. Even Gimli set down his axe once Gandalf confirmed that my story wasn't a lie.

When I went to sit down, the only open spot was near Frodo.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "Call me… Call me Alex."

"Alex. Okay."

Then Pippin and Merry started singing. I don't know why, but I started to sing along.

_Home is behind,_

_The world ahead._

_And there are many paths to tread_

_Through shadows,_

_To the edge of night._

_Until the stars are all alight_

_Mist and shadow, Cloud and shade_

_All shall fade, all shall fade_


	3. Orcs

Merry stared. "I thought you said you had no memory."

"I don't."

"And yet, you sang every note and word perfectly…"

I bit my lip. "Look, I swear I'm not lying."

Merry just turned away. After that, I didn't talk to anyone for the rest of the night.

* * *

That night, I had no dreams. How could I, with no memories other than earlier that day. In the morning, I woke up feeling unnaturally warm. Someone had covered me with their cloak during the night. I opened my eyes and sat up, searching for someone other than Boromir without a cloak.

It was Frodo. I quickly got up and walked over to hand it back.

"No, you should keep it," he said when I tried to give it to him.

"Why?"

"I noticed that you're cold at night, Alex."

"You don't need it?"

"No. I… I'm used to it."

"Okay. Thank you Frodo."

Then Sam came running up.

"Mr. Frodo and…"

"Alex," I told him.

"Alex, then. We have to get moving. Strider and Legolas spotted a group of orcs headed our way."

"Um, I'm sorry, 'orcs'?"

"Oh, they're monsters that come from Isengaurd and Mordor."

"Monsters. Great. I feel so _safe._"

"Don't worry. There are only a few. Even so, we have to keep moving."

With that, we packed up camp and headed in the opposite direction from the orcs.


	4. The Ring

We traveled in pairs, side by side, and since Frodo normally traveled alone, I was paired with him. I was glad, because it gave us a chance to talk.

"Frodo?"

"Yes, Alex?"

"How did you know I was cold? Last night, I mean."

"I was on watch."

"No. Gimli was."

"Only for the first half of the night," he explained. "I took the second half."

"That's pretty smart."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, sorry. I mean the idea of 2 different watches during the night carried out by 2 different people to make sure that they both get enough sleep."

"Wow. You're pretty smart, too. How old are you?"

"Well, how old do I look? You know, in Shire reckoning."

"How do you know about Shire reckoning?"

"Strider told me."

"Oh. Well, I'd say you look about… I don't know, twenty, I guess."

"So… let's see, just into my tweens… so, twelve?"

"Yes, just about."

We stopped talking for a while.

"Frodo?"

"What Alex?"

"Why are you traveling like this? Always moving, avoiding orcs all the time?"

Frodo took a deep breath.

"A long time ago, nineteen rings of power were created. Three for elves, seven for dwarves, nine for men. But one more was made by Sauron of Mordor. He was killed by Icealdor, the king of Gondor. When Icealdor died, it went to a creature named Gollum. Then my uncle Bilbo, then me. The ring is evil. We are going to destroy it. It can only be destroyed in Mordor."

Again, silence.

"Is Strider his real name?" I ventured.

"No, its Aragorn. But _don't _call him that. If he wanted you to know that his name was Aragorn, he would have told you that."

"Why would I care about his name?" I asked.

"Aragorn is Icealdor's heir. Icealdor could have destroyed the ring, but he kept it. Because he was power hungry. I think Strider is afraid of the same thing."

"Wow. I would have never known. I'm sorry."


	5. Blew it!

We stopped to make camp when the sun started going down.

"I never thought we'd have a girl in the fellowship," Sam remarked as he laid out his sleeping bag.

"What's the fellowship?" I asked.

"It's what we call ourselves. The fellowship of the ring," Sam explained.

"You mean Frodo's ring?" I asked.

Sam looked away, like he'd said too much. I walked away, feeling awkward myself. Instead, I sat down next to Legolas and Strider.

"Where are we going, anyway?" I asked them. It was Legolas who answered.

"Past those mountains-" he pointed east "-we don't really know. Strider and Boromir were thinking about heading toward Minas Tirith, but that's it."

"What's Minas Tirith?"

"_The city of kings. _In Gondor."

"Aragorn's kingdom." I realized my mistake too late. Both Strider and Legolas froze. Strider turned towards me and said in a low, almost menacing voice, "How do you know my name?"

"Frodo told me. I'm sorry. It was my fault. I was just wondering."

He stopped me with a motion of his hand. "It doesn't matter that you know my name. I just wanted to know how."

I thought I heard something else in his voice, but I decided to let it go. I wanted to bring up the fact that I still had no weapon.

"Um, Strider, if we were attacked, how would I defend myself?"

"That's right. You don't have a sword. Boromir! Do we have any extra swords for Alex?"

"Sure!" Boromir answered. "She can use the one I found after the last orc attack. I can train her, too."

"It's settled then. You can start your training in the morning," Strider concluded. As he rolled over, I caught a glimpse of a sliver chain around his neck. I wanted to ask him about it, but decided not to. I only knew him for a day, and had already blown it with his name. I didn't want to make him mad. I lay down and fell asleep as well.


	6. The first lesson

That night, I had one short dream. It was snowing softly, and I realized I was standing outside an Indian camp. A man with blond, jaw-length hair rode up on a painted horse. I barely heard him whisper _oh no _as he dismounted. I couldn't see his face (he was turned around), but I looked again at the camp. What I saw almost made me choke. Hundreds of Indians lay dead on the ground. The man turned around, and I saw tears streaming down his face. My stomach still ached when I woke up. Gandalf was standing over me.

"Good morning, Alex. I was about to wake you for breakfast," he said. That sounded good. I hadn't had dinner last night. I was too embarrassed. I sat up and put on the cloak, because it was cold that morning. As I walked toward the fire, Strider turned to me.

"What did Frodo say was the reason for keeping my true name secret?" he asked. When I hesitated, Strider gestured to the seat next to him. As I sat down, I explained.

"Frodo said... If you told me your name, I might have recognized you as Icealdor's heir, and would think badly of you because of it."

Strider nodded, then pointed at the cloak.

"I see Frodo gave you his cloak."

"Oh. Yes. He was worried about me being cold at night."

"Did you sleep better with it?"

"Well, I slept better, but my dreams didn't improve."

Strider was polite and didn't talk while I explained my dream. When I was finished, he nodded and said,"It was only a dream." I wasn't so sure.

That day, as promised, I was given lessons with Boromir. We use sticks instead of our swords so I wouldn't get hurt. Boromir labeled each sword position with a number and called them out as he threw blows. I had to stop after about an hour because of bruises. I sat down on a rock and watched as Boromir trained with Pippin. They used swords since Pippin was more advanced than I was. Boromir made a mistake and accidentally cut Pippin's hand.

"Ow!"

"Sorry!"

Both Pippin and Merry kicked Boromir in the shins and tackled him. When Strider stepped in to try and stop them, they just turned around and tackled Strider, too! I couldn't help but laugh until I spotted Legolas staring at a dark shadow in the sky. I walked over, asking, "Legolas, what is that?"


	7. Such a small thing

The foothills of the mountains were horrible! I was so cold, I could barely do anything but walk and look down. The one time I did look up, it was just in time to see Frodo fall.

"Frodo!" I yelled. I ran, forgetting the cold. When I got there, Strider had already helped Frodo to stand. When Frodo started grabbing at his neck, I realized he was looking for the Ring. I spotted it about ten feet away. I started towards it, but Boromir got there first.

"It is such a small thing...for which you suffer so much fear and doubt," he said.

"Boromir!" Aragorn shouted, snapping both him and me into focus. "Give the Ring to Frodo."

"Of course," Boromir replied. "I care not." Before walking off, Boromir ruffled Frodo's hair like they had just shared a joke.

"What's up with him?" I asked as soon as Boromir was out of hearing range.

"He's acted like that since Rivendell, but I don't blame him," Strider said. "The Ring is...tempting...to most beings."


	8. Cadharas

I thought the foothills were bad, but the farther up the mountains I went, the more I realized "bad" was like a fluffy bunny. One time I looked back, and I couldn't see Frodo anymore. I couldn't see any of the Hobbits.

"Frodo!"

"I'm here!" I could just see his hand above the snow.

"Just stay there!"

When I reached him, I started to take off the cloak.

"No, you need it more!" Frodo argued.

"Are you joking? Your lips are blue! You put on the cloak, and I'll carry you. Then we can both wear it."

"What about the others?"

"I already thought of that."

Once Frodo was on my back, I caught up with Aragorn and Boromir, asking them to carry the other three Hobbits. Rocks and snow fell off of the mountain, almost hitting us.

"What is this..." I whispered. A few seconds later, about five feet of snow buried us. As I started to suffocate, I felt someone pull me roughly to the surface. So roughly, in fact, that Frodo lost his grip on my shoulder. It was Boromir that had pulled me up, and once he saw that Frodo was still in the snow, he pulled Frodo up, too.

"We should make for the Gap of Rohan!" Aragorn shouted.

"We go through Moria!" Gimli argued.

"Lets the ring-bearer decide," Gandalf determined.

Frodo hesitated before saying, "We shall go through the mines."

"So be it."


	9. Moria's gate

Outside Moria's gates, there was no snow. There _was_ a giant lake, littered with dead branches. When we stopped, Gandalf said we had to wait until it was dark, so I decided to work on swordplay with Boromir. While we were fighting, we talked about the funniest things. At one point, I think we talked about the things we thought were the best three wishes.

"For me, I would wish for... A horse, a best friend, and... To be a better sword fighter."

"What? You wouldn't wish for your memory?" Boromir asked, laughing. "I would wish for... Peace in Gondor, for my father to be more kind to my brother, and a sister like you!"

"Oh? And what am I like?"

"Brave, great with a sword, and you don't act like you care about being a girl."

"Yeah, well, this _girl_ is done with swords for one night." I put my sword back in its sheith. "Look! The moon's out."

Sure enough, a small glimpse of silver light could be seen through the clouds. An outline of a door glowed on the rock wall.

"What do the runes say?" I asked.

"'Speak friend, and enter,' whatever that means," Boromir snorted.

"Well, it's quite simple; if you are a friend, you simply speak the password, and the doors will open," Gandalf explained.

Yeah... Right. It took Gandalf at least an hour before Frodo figured it out.

"It's a riddle! 'Speak friend, and enter.' What the Elvish word for friend?"

"Mellon."

With a creak, the doors swung open, revealing a long, unlit passageway. I heard a large splash coming from the lake. As I turned around, I noticed large ripples, as if they came from a storm. The odd thing was, the air was still, and not a cloud was in sight. Spooked, I hurried into Moria after the others.

"Soon, elf, you shall experience the fabled hospitality of the dwarves!" Gimli was boasting. "Roaring fires, malt beers, ripe meat off the bone! This is the home of my cousin Balin, and they call it a mine. A mine!"

"This is no mine," Boromir breathed. "It's a tomb!"

Frodo stepped back from an impaled skeleton as Gimli finally realized what was around him, groaning with each corpse he saw. I had to bite my hand to keep from screaming.

Legolas examined an arrow. "Goblins!"

Strider unsheathed his sword, as did Boromir, and Legolas readied his bow.

"We make for the gap of Rohan," Boromir ordered. "We should never have come here. _Now, get out. Get _OUT!"

Too late, I noticed the strange ripples in the water. A large tentacle grabbed Frodo from the group of hobbits, pulling him by the leg.

"STRIDER!" Sam shouted.

The exiled king turned, and his eyes grew big with fear, which I thought was more for Frodo than the thing that was grabbing him.


End file.
